Shi mian mai fu
Chinese director Zhang Yimou fuses a martial arts action-drama with a tragic romance in this elegant period piece. In the year 859 A.D., as the Tang dynasty is beset by rebellion, Leo (Andy Lau) and Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) are a pair of lawmen who have been given the task of ferreting out the leaders of a revolutionary faction known as the Flying Daggers. Working on a tip that members of the group are working out of a brothel called the Peony Pavilion, Jin arrives there in disguise and is introduced to a beautiful blind dancer named Mei (Zhang Ziyi). After watching Mei's performance following several drinks, Jim drunkenly attempts to have his way with her, and Leo is forced to intervene. After gaining Mei's trust in a game of skill, Leo arrests her and informs her that she'll be tortured if she doesn't tell all she knows about the Flying Daggers. Jin responds by helping Mei break out of prison, but he has an ulterior motive — by following her, Leo and Jin are certain she'll lead them to the Flying Daggers. However, as he helps the blind girl find her way back home, Jin finds himself falling in love with Mei, and isn't certain if he's willing to betray her again. — Mark Deming
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Takeshi Kaneshiro | Jin |
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Andy Lau | Leo |
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Ziyi Zhang | Xiao Mei |
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Dandan Song | Yee |
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Hongfei Zhao | Constable |
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Jun Guo | Constable |
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Shu Zhang | Performer |
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Jiusheng Wang | Performer |
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Zhengyong Zhang | Performer |
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Yongxin Wang | Constable |
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Dong Liu | Performer |
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Qi Zi | Performer |
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Xuedong Qu | Performer |
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Liping Tian | Performer |
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Hongwei Zhao | Performer |
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Weina Huang | Performer |
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Dan Ge | Performer |
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Xiadong Yang | Performer |
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Yisha Shang | Performer |
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Ying Liu | Performer |
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Jingwen Huang | Performer |
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Kejia Zhang | Performer |
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Tianyou Luo | Performer |
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Lin Zhu | Performer |
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Jiwei Hu | Performer |
| Director | Yimou Zhang |
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| Writer | Feng Li, Bin Wang, Yimou Zhang | |
| Producer | William Kong, Sook Yhun, Weiping Zhang, Yimou Zhang, Zhenyan Zhang | |
| Musician | Shigeru Umebayashi | |
| Photography | Xiaoding Zhao | |
| Packaging | Keep Case |
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| Nr Discs | 1 |
| Screen Ratios | Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) |
| Audio Tracks | ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1 MANDARIN: Dolby Digital 5.1 |
| Subtitles | English | French |
| Layers | Single side, Dual layer |
| Edition Release Date | Apr 19, 2005 |
| Regions | Region 1 |